Rivals are careful not to reveal too much

When the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies face each
other during this final spring training in Tucson, some
gamesmanship will be on display.

Early this spring, pitchers are throwing few innings, and
starters exit games well before the final pitch. But by the final
week, players are closer to being season ready, and against NL West
foes, the D-backs and Rockies might not send their top-notch
starting pitchers to the mound to avoid showing their hands.

The teams play their Cactus League opener today at Tucson
Electric Park.

Starting next year, the rivals will be housemates, sharing a
$100 million, 140-acre complex near Scottsdale.

Team officials say it's not their preference to share with a
rival, but the teams say they want to move from the two-team
atmosphere in Tucson that diminishes competition and increases
travel to the Valley.

"Early in camp, I don't worry about it as much. Later in camp,
we have a game at the end of the month, it'll be a little
interesting pitching choices on both sides," said Arizona manager
A.J. Hinch, referring to the final spring game in Tucson on March
31. "But we probably know them as well as we know anybody."

Next year, the teams will have separate clubhouses and offices
and will likely face each other less because 13 other teams train
in Phoenix. Hopefully, the D-backs will avoid their rivals during
the final week of spring, Hinch said.

"It'll be nice to see different teams we may only see once (in
Tucson), to see a lot of American League teams that are up there
that we only get to see once," Hinch said.

"(We're) not necessarily showing everything, but we're still
working on things," Hammel said. "But you're still seeing
(hitters') early approaches, so you're kind of looking for stuff
they're doing, too."

Hinch said he is not hiding too much early - No. 2 starter Edwin
Jackson will face the Giants on Saturday, and ace Dan Haren will
likely face the Dodgers once.

When the players are closer to being season ready, Hinch said he
will worry more about matchups on March 29 against the Padres and
March 31 against the Rockies.

"I'm anticipating later that Rockies game on the 31st will
probably be the only game I really, really try to hone in on who's
the starting pitcher on that date. … By then our pitchers are going
five or six innings. It'll be a chess match," Hinch said.

As the only teams training in Tucson, the D-backs and Rockies
can't sidestep each other too much, and both will likely send
major-league pitchers to "B" games, scrimmages on back fields.

Colorado starter Jeff Francis said pitchers are focused on
improving themselves, and they can benefit from facing a rival.

"It helps when we know those hitters a bit and we can work on
certain things, but you don't want to show your hand too much.
That's true," he said.

Rockies manager Jim Tracy opted to start Francis on Friday
against the Giants, instead of ace Ubaldo Jimenez, citing the
important games the Rockies played against their rival last season.
Instead, Jimenez will face the Angels.

"You get that far down in the spring, regardless of the
opponent, you're into the big boys," Tracy said. "You're paring
down to the point where you've got significant people who need to
get their work in, so opponent is immaterial. Keep your secrets or
hiding this or that or whatever, we've got to be ready to
play."

Buckner, who will start today, said he has to focus on getting
outs while possibly not showing too much to hitters.

"You want to get them out with as little as possible," he said.
"I'm not worried about showing too much, because they know what I
have anyway."

Although today is opening day here for the D-backs and the Rockies, spring training ceased to be spring training in Tucson a long time ago. It stopped being about baseball and started being about money and maneuvering the day the Cleveland Indians ended their 46-year stay and bolted for Homestead, Fla., in 1993.

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